I completed my BSc and MSc in Biology at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia where I was working as a lecturer until 1991 when I left for Uppsala University, Sweden on a PhD fellowship from SAREC (Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation).  I studied the distribution of phytoplankton in Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes lying along an alkalinity-salinity gradient.  This ecological and taxonomic work was followed by a physiological study on Spirulina platensis (=Arthrospira fusiformis), dominant cyanobacterial (blue-green algal) species in two of the saline-alkaline lakes. Spirulina is used commercially for nutritional and therapeutic purposes.  I then pursued research in algal biotechnology as a postdoctoral fellow at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Beltsville, Maryland.  The project focused on using algae for waste treatment and recycling nutrients from manure to offset atmospheric and aquatic pollution.

I am presently teaching in Biosciences and serving as Programme Leader for the Extended Degree in Science.

• Presently teaching in Biosciences, and serving as Programme Leader for the Extended Degree in Science, a one-year programme preparing students for level 1 studies in the School of Health & Bioscience.
• Member of the Environmental Research Group (ERG), undertaking environmental research and consultancy work.
• Member of the Learning and Teaching Committee for the School.

• Cross-disciplinary studies in microbial and aquatic ecology with applications in environmental & human health, and sustainable development:
  • Water quality, toxin-producing cyanobacteria & algae, and implications in biodiversity, public health, and sustainable development.
  • Biotechnology in waste treatment and nutrient recycling.
• Learning and teaching, and developing links in teaching & research in developing countries in the environmental sciences & sustainable development .

• Biosciences
• Herbal Medicine

• BS0001  Skills
• BS1000  Skills for Biosciences
• BS1274  Skills for Herbalists
• BS0004  Chemistry
• BS0005  Biology
• BS1002  Cellular Processes
• BS1010  Human Health & Disease
• BS3065  Individual Research Project
• MSc Research Project

• Mulbry, W.W., Condrad, S., Pizarro, C. & Kebede-Westhead, E. 2008. Treatment of dairy manure effluent using freshwater algae: algal productivity and recovery of manure nutrients using pilot-scale algal turf scrubbers. Bioresource Technol. 99: 8137-8142.
• Kebede-Westhead, E., Pizarro, C. & Mulbry, W.W.  2006.  Treatment of swine manure effluent using freshwater algae: production, nutrient recovery, and elemental composition of algal biomass at four effluent loading rates.  J. appl. Phycol. 18: 41-46..
• Hill, T.C.J., Kebede-Westhead, E., Ahern, H. & Tilahun, G.  Toxin-producing cyanobacteria in three Ethiopian lakes used for drinking water.  2007-in progress.

Mulbry, W.W., Kebede-Westhead, E., Pizarro, C. & Sikora, L. 2005.  Recycling of manure nutrients: use of algal biomass from dairy manure treatment as a slow release fertilizer.  Bioresource Technol. 96: 451–458.

Kebede-Westhead, E., Pizarro, C. & Mulbry, W.W. 2004.  Treatment of dairy manure effluent using freshwater algae: elemental composition of algal biomass at different manure loading rates.  J. Agric. Food Chem. 52: 7293-7296.

Kebede-Westhead, E., Pizarro, C., Mulbry, W.W. &. Wilkie, A.C. 2003.  Production and nutrient removal by periphyton grown under different loading rates of anaerobically digested flushed dairy manure.  J. Phycol. 39: 1275–1282.

Kebede, E. 2002.  Phytoplankton distribution in lakes of the Ethiopian rift Valley.  In: C. Tudorancea & W.D. Taylor (eds.), Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes, pp. 61–93, Backhuys Publishers, Leiden.

Pizarro, C., Kebede-Westhead, E. & Mulbry, W.W. 2002.  Nitrogen and phosphorus removal rates using small algal turfs grown with dairy manure.  J. appl. Phycol.: 14: 469–473.

Taylor, W.D., Kebede, E. & Zinabu, G.M. 2002.  Primary and secondary productivity in the pelagic zone of Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes.  In: C. Tudorancea & W.D. Taylor (eds.), Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes, pp. 95–108, Backhuys Publishers, Leiden.

Zinabu, G.M., Kebede-Westhead, E. & Desta, Z. 2002.  Long-term changes in chemical features of waters of seven Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes.  Hydrobiol. 477: 81–91.

Kebede, E. & Willén, E. 1998.  Phytoplankton in a salinity-alkalinity series of lakes in the Ethiopian Rift Valley.  Arch. Hydrobiol./ Suppl. 124, Algolog. Studies 89: 63–96.

Kebede, E. 1997.  Growth response of Spirulina platensis (= Arthrospira fusiformis) from Lake Chitu, Ethiopia, to salinity stress from sodium salts.  J. appl. Phycol. 9: 551–558.

Kebede, E. & Willén, E. 1996.  Anabaenopsis abijatae, a new cyanophyte from Lake Abijata, an alkaline, saline lake in the Ethiopian Rift Valley.  Arch. Hydrobiol./ Suppl. 112, Algolog. Stud. 80: 1–8.

Kebede, E. & Ahlgren, G. 1996.  Optimum growth conditions and light utilisation efficiency of Spirulina platensis (= Arthrospira fusiformis) (Cyanophyta) from Lake Chitu, Ethiopia.  Hydrobiol. 332: 99–109.

Kebede, E., Zinabu, G.M. & Ahlgren, I. 1994.  The Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes: chemical characteristics of a salinity-alkalinity series.  Hydrobiol. 288:1-12.

Kebede, E. & Belay, A. 1994.  Species composition and phytoplankton biomass in a tropical African lake (Lake Awassa, Ethiopia).  Hydrobiol. 288: 13-32.

Kebede, E., Getachew, T., Taylor, W.D. & Zinabu, G.M. 1992.  Eutrophication of Lake Hayq in the Ethiopian highlands.  J. Plankton Res.  14: 1473–1482.

• Member, International Society of Limnology (SIL)
• Member, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)

• http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm?accn_no=409609
• http://www.spirulina.com/SPLNews96.html
• http://www.ana-jana.org/reprints/spirulinareprint.pdf
• http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/8/925
• http://earth.imagico.de/view.php?site=eafrica